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It's not a rum, I don't know why I thought it was a rum. It's not sweet at all, it smells like pickled olives and grass.

Yet it's a key ingredient in the original mai tai. The sweetness of the other ingredients hide its brininess.

I really enjoyed the Trader Vic Mai Tai. I'm undecided on the Rhum Agricole. All I can say for now is it's mighty fine in a mai tai and being a St. George product, it goes down smooth as silk, as long as you can hide the taste.

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If I'm not mistaken, the dark Jamaican/Martinique combo was the solution for replacing the Wray & Nephew 17 year that was the key ingredient in the original Mai Tai. When the W&N became scarce and eventually unavailable other than in private collections, it forced finding a workable substitute. I claim no expertise in that area though, I just happen to be fresh off of a thorough reading of a couple of Beachbum Berry's books and Martin Cate's book and I'm pretty sure I remember that being the case regarding the Martinique rhum in the Mai Tai.

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@Tri2Cook, I went online to see if they sold me a bad batch and the consensus was St. George's is really raw and savory, even for an rhum agricole, so maybe other rhum agricole's aren't as bad. Clement VSOP Rhum Agricole Vieux got good reviews.

I really like this version of the Mai Tai, it's a complicated drink, much like a higher-end brandy. It's not cloyingly sweet like the ones I've had elsewhere. So the agricole may be doing it's job. I've been reading that it's used like bitters, it's suppose to provide that je ne sais quoi . And for that, I think it's perfect.

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@Tri2Cook, I went online to see if they sold me a bad batch and the consensus was St. George's is really raw and savory, even for an rhum agricole, so maybe other rhum agricole's aren't as bad. Clement VSOP Rhum Agricole Vieux got good reviews.

I really like this version of the Mai Tai, it's a complicated drink, much like a higher-end brandy. It's not cloyingly sweet like the ones I've had elsewhere. So the agricole may be doing it's job. I've been reading that it's used like bitters, it's suppose to provide that je ne sais quoi . And for that, I think it's perfect.

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I'm not interested in getting a perfect reproduction of "the original Mai Tai" and have no desire to do the research to do so. I much rather do my research by making drinks!

Sometimes, you have to stop reading, and start making. Besides, the version I made earlier was tasty, as is using DeKruper Triple Sec. YMMV.

I had St. George's Rhum Agricole in my cabinet anyways, for honestly no better reason that I wanted to try it and it was the right price.

I'm not going to go into debate about whether or not what I made was the a "true" reproduction of Trader Vic's Mai Tai, but just because I perused it, you can read the comments and articles linked in Kindred Spirits page, stating that argicole and dark rum were combined to try to create the original J. Wray 17 year old rum, which is what the original Mai Tai was created to highlight. It had a distinct flavor, that is not common in molasses-based rum, but reproduced by a molasses based rum and an agricole, which must've disintegrated into the mai tai that most of us know today, a dark rum and a (light) rum.

Not to mention, there's a handful of other "adaptations" to thisexactrecipe! So get off my case! If I want to mix it with unaged agricole and report on it, I can. Not many of here have tried St. George's Rhum Agricole, it's not like I'm reporting on Bacardi White.

YMMV, I look at the suggestions for using Appleton 12 v/x in a cocktail and gasp.

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And not that RumDood is the "end-all" in any rum conversation, here's an interesting recipe he posted on his blog, that won the Bacardi Legacy Championship 2015

Le Latin
by Frank Dedieu

45 ml Bacardi White

20 ml Lemon Juice

20 ml White Wine (Viognier preferred)

6 ml Olive Brine

2 barspoons Sugar

So, mixing rum, albeit white in this case, with olive brine is not such a travesty after all. It's actually tasty. And olive brine and grass are the predominant flavor profiles of a St. George Agricole, so it's not a far stretch to mix it in this mai tai. Not that it was inspiration, I read RumDood's blog much later, but was surprised to see another using the same flavor combination. If I hadn't tasted it just hours before, I would've thought it was foul.

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I'm not interested in getting a perfect reproduction of "the original Mai Tai" and have no desire to do the research to do so. I much rather do my research by making drinks!

Sometimes, you have to stop reading, and start making. Besides, the version I made earlier was tasty, as is using DeKruper Triple Sec. YMMV.

I had St. George's Rhum Agricole in my cabinet anyways, for honestly no better reason that I wanted to try it and it was the right price.

I'm not going to go into debate about whether or not what I made was the a "true" reproduction of Trader Vic's Mai Tai, but just because I perused it, you can read the comments and articles linked in Kindred Spirits page, stating that argicole and dark rum were combined to try to create the original J. Wray 17 year old rum, which is what the original Mai Tai was created to highlight. It had a distinct flavor, that is not common in molasses-based rum, but reproduced by a molasses based rum and an agricole, which must've disintegrated into the mai tai that most of us know today, a dark rum and a (light) rum.

Not to mention, there's a handful of other "adaptations" to thisexactrecipe! So get off my case! If I want to mix it with unaged agricole and report on it, I can. Not many of here have tried St. George's Rhum Agricole, it's not like I'm reporting on Bacardi White.

YMMV, I look at the suggestions for using Appleton 12 v/x in a cocktail and gasp.

"Get off my case"?! Chill, dude. All I was trying to say was that St George was a fine product, and that trying it in a Mai Tai maybe wasn't the easiest way to fall in love with it. If you liked it, great!

And research includes making/drinking. Of course it does!

Enjoy your St George. You got it for a steal!

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It's growing on me, I've read reviews that use it like bitters and that makes more sense to me than using it like a molasses-based rum. It's a distinct flavor, an analogy would be anchovies, anchovies don't taste good plain, but mixed in Caesar salad, it is delicious. I made a Cuba Libre with it today and it really brought out the flavor of the limes and caramel. I'm sure I'll find a use for my bottle.

I'm a big fan of St. George gin (I'm a predominantly a gin drinker), so I had to buy anything St. George on sale. I noticed St. George gin in your cabinet too. There's something we agree on. Cheers.

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@Smokeydoke I would suggest you find real, high quality orgeat or make some. It tastes like actual almonds (nom, nom, by the handful) rather than extract (e.g. marzipan). Small Hands is reported to be great. BG Reynolds is good, although it is tan in color which puts some off. I would avoid Fee. @JoNorvelleWalker is the Mai Tai queen in these parts. Probably has done more experimenting than anyone with this particular drink.

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@EvergreenDan, not understanding what you're getting at, I'm definitely not the Mai Tai queen, nor do I have an desire to be and I definitely don't want to take that title away from @JoNorvelleWalker. I'm predominantly a gin drinker who happened to have a new bottle of Rhum Agricole.

But concerning orgeat, point taken, I will try making some. It does appear in a few cocktails I want to try.

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Built over ice with Elijah Craig, ango bitters and a coriander syrup (which I could have filtered a bit better) as the sweetener. The red chile flakes in the coriander syrup add a nice warming touch.

I really like that coriander syrup. I've always shied away from the sweetness in an Old Fashioned but this syrup includes some red chile flakes, which provide a bit of heat to balance the sweetness. It also makes very nice coriander soda.

In addition to the Elijah Craig bourbon specified in the recipe, I've made this cocktail with various base spirits:

Wild Turkey 101 - not recommended

Rittenhouse Rye - so so

Laird's 100 proof apple brandy - good

Appleton Estate Reserve - excellent

Koloa Kaua'i Coconut rum - (I used a dash Angostura and 1 dash orange bitters for this one) sweet, but very nice

Cazadores Añejo tequila - no, no, no

Hacienda de Chihuahua reposado sotol - nice!

Maybe I should try a brandy or cognac version. What I've learned from my experiments it that a sippable spirit will make a sippable Cliff Old Fashioned.

I think I've seen this mentioned on the board somewhere but memory loss and lack of initiative to find the thread is prevailing - is Sfumato a reasonable substitute for Zucca? Regardless this looks great, I'll have to try this.